Odisha: Passengers scream for help as engine-less train rolls-backwards 10km
What's the story
In a strangely horrifying incident, 22 coaches of the Ahmedabad-Puri Express rolled backwards without an engine for 10kms in Odisha before it could be stopped. Videos showed people screaming for help as the train rolled by. Passengers later said pulling the chain didn't help at all. The mishap happened after the train had arrived at Titlagarh station Friday night and its engine was detached.
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Watch: Scary visuals as the train rolls by
Passenger shouting for help as the Puri Ahmedabad Express crossed the Kesinga station of Kalahandi Saturday night. The train stopped just outside the station due to higher gradient. @htTweets pic.twitter.com/GVkR0siHlp
— Debabrata Mohanty (@debabrata2008) April 8, 2018
Details
What happened?
The train had traveled 1,460km from Ahmedabad since Thursday and reached Titlagarh in Bolangir at 9:35pm Friday. There, the engine was detached. Suddenly, the train started moving backwards. Authorities immediately closed level-crossing gates along the route. They managed to stop the train at Kesinga station by placing a heap of stones on the track. No one was injured as the train moved at 20kmph.
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But how did the mishap happen?
Officials say the mishap happened due to non-application of skid brakes. "When the engine is detached, coaches should be secured with skids at the wheels. In this case, it appears skids were either not placed, or placed improperly," said JP Mishra, East Coast Railway PRO.
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What did Railways do?
There were scenes of chaos. "We were praying to God to save us from the disaster. We could not know what was happening," an anxious passenger said. But officials said they couldn't have stopped it before Kesinga as that section had a descending slope, and any intervention could have caused a major accident. Railways has suspended seven employees, including the train's drivers. A detailed enquiry has been ordered.
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Another similar incident last year, but without threats to passengers
In a similar case last November, an electric train traveled 13kms without a loco pilot from Wadi station in Maharashtra; the loco pilot chased it on a bike, caught it, got on it and stopped the train. In that incident, the engine was attached.